


Cooking is the Way to the Heart

by Lady_Panthea



Series: ao3 Tag Generator Challenge [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Cooking, Hurt/Comfort, Taaco Twins, ao3 tag generator challenge, emotional culinary cuddling, sibling feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-15 13:06:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13613997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Panthea/pseuds/Lady_Panthea
Summary: Lup finds Taako cooking in the middle of the night and the two finally talk about what happened in their years apart.





	Cooking is the Way to the Heart

Lup had woken up in the middle of the night. After year trapped inside the Umbrastaff, she often had trouble sleeping through the night. Staying still for so long after her confinement was torture. There was so much to do. So much she’d missed. Even meditation didn’t help. Though she could rest and be back to normal in a matter of hours, not even the lull of her husband’s arms could keep her sleep for more than a few hours at a time. If she was forced to be awake, she might as well start on breakfast. Magnus alone ate enough for three people.

With a sigh, she rose from the bed, heading to the kitchen of the house the crew of the Starblaster shared. Although the Hunger was defeated, they had wanted to stay together, just for a little while. Each had their own homes and lives outside but, this house officially belonging to the Taako brand, had a room for each member of their small mismatched family. Even Angus, the human child her brother had adopted along the way, had his place. It was that, more than anything else, that told Lup just how important the small boy was to her brother. She stopped at the door of the kitchen, noticing the sliver of light emanating from beneath the door. She pushed it open and glanced inside, not expecting anyone else to be up.

“’ko?” She asked, surprised to see him awake. Taako was not one to miss his beauty sleep when he could avoid it. “What are you doing? It’s 3 AM.”

“Nothing,” he muttered, quickly pushing the bowl he had been mixing behind him. It was almost like he was trying to hide that he was cooking, like he was ashamed of it. But that would be ridiculous, Lup thought to herself. Taako was the best cook she knew. Nothing he made could be truly bad, even if some things were less palatable than others.

“What cha making?” She asked, hopping up to sit on the counter beside the bowl and reaching over to stick her finger into what looked like muffin mix.

To her surprise, Taako slapped her hand away with a panicked “Don’t!” before swooping in to grab the bowl and dumping the whole thing into the trash.

“What the hell Koko?” Lup said, astounded.

“You can’t eat it,” Taako told her.

“Why the fuck not?”

“S’not safe,” he replied.

“What do you mean it’s not safe? Did you poison it or something?” She asked, staring at the bin, still confused as to why Taako would throw away food. He of all people would understand her reluctance to do so. Even after over a century of eating properly, it was hard to shake the habits from their original plane. Her observation meant that she almost missed Taako’s flinch at her words.

When he didn’t answer her, she sighed. “Fine, you gonna help me with breakfast then?”

“I can’t cook anymore Lulu.”

“What? Why?” She asked in surprise.

“I just can’t,” he told her.

“Did you forget? Are your memories still messed up? I thought Fisher and Junior had fixed everything.”

“Drop it, Lu,” he said, refusing to meet his sisters eyes. “I’m going to bed. I’ll see you in a few hours for breakfast.”

Before Lup could protest, Taako had practically run out of the kitchen, leaving Lup alone with her thoughts.

***

It was a few nights later that Lup came across Taako cooking in the middle of the night again.

“For someone who says they can’t cook, you sure do try hard,” she said, starling her brother.

He froze, still midway through the action mixing the content of the bowl before him.

“You making nothing again?” She asked, walking up behind her brother and resting her chin on his shoulder.

Taako sighed. “Can you drop it Lulu?”

“Will you tell me why you refuse to cook for people but hide in the kitchen and practice in the middle of the night?” Taako just looked at her. “Then no.”

Taako sighed, setting down the bowl and turning to face her. “I killed people Lulu,” he finally said with a sigh.

“And?” Lup answered. “How is that any different from what you’ve done hundreds of times before? We’ve lived for almost two centuries. We’ve all killed people.”

“They died because of me,” Taako insisted. “Because they ate my food.”

“That doesn’t really tell me much ‘ko.”

“It’s kind of a long story,” Taako said.

“I’ve got time,” she replied, dragging her brother down to sit on the floor against the cupboards. “Spill.”

“It basically started when Lucy did the whole thing with Fisher. She left us all in different places where she thought we would be happy and for a while, I was. I mean I had a cooking show! I was famous! Everyone knew who I was!”

“That’s great T.”

“Yeah,” he said with a bitter smile, “it really was. After a while, I had to hire an assistant. The caravan was set up for two people anyways.”

“She was going to put us both there,” Lup said in understanding.

“Guess she figured even erasing our memories wouldn’t keep us apart. We were always together.”

“But then I left you behind,” Lup said sadly, snuggling into her brother’s side.

“Wasn’t your fault,” Taako answered, hugging her tightly. “I forgot you.”

“Also not your fault, wasn’t anyone’s fault really, but continue the story. What happened with the show?”

“Well that’s when I found Sazed. The guy was great. He could drive, stage manage, and act like a bodyguard, we had some crazy fans,” he told her. “It was going well. We’d travel to different cities and towns, and do a show. Sizzle it up with Taako was a hit. We’d get huge audiences when we were in big cities.

“Then, one time when we were in a smaller town, it all went wrong. I was making Thirty Garlic Clove Chicken and figured it was such an easy thing that I didn’t have to test it. Nothing I made could taste bad anyways. So I finish the dish, garnish it with transmuted elderberries and send it out for the audience.

“Sounds delicious,” Lup said.

“Fit for a last meal,” Taako replied with a self-deprecating laugh.

“So what happened? What went wrong?” Lup asked.

“Everything,” Taako groaned. “Everyone who’d tried it started dropping. They were having some kind of seizures and frothing at the mouth. I figured I’d fucked up the transmutation on the berries and made deadly nightshade instead. So I did what Taako does best. I got the fuck out. I ran like a fucking coward and refused to face the consequences.”

“That doesn’t sound like nightshade poisoning though,” Lup said in confusion.

“Yeah,” Taako replied. “I found that out later. Didn’t think of it at the time. After all, what city-guard would have believed a guy who’d just killed forty people.”

“But it wasn’t your fault,” Lup insisted. “If it wasn’t the berries, then why did they die?”

“Sazed was bitter about the fact that he wasn’t as recognized as I was. So he decided to attack me in the easiest way. After all, what’s worse for a chef than his food’s making a bunch of people sick? He bought some arsenic from an apothecary and mixed it into the food when I wasn’t looking. Guess he didn’t think about dosage, cause it ended up killing everyone who ate it. Innocent people Lup. Gods, there were kids in the audience.”

Lup pulled her brother into her arms, hugging him tightly as he finally broke down.

“Should have tested the food,” Taako mumbled into her shoulder after a few minutes.

“But then I wouldn’t have my brother anymore goofus,” Lup told him sternly. “I know you blame yourself, but if it’s anyone’s fault, it’s this Sazed dude. By the way, any idea where he might be? I’m asking for a friend.”

“You’re not allowed to kill him Lulu,” Taako sniffled, wiping his eyes as he sat up to look at his sister.

“Oh I’m not going to kill him,” she said with a bright grin. “But I’m betting that Bone-Daddy won’t be impressed with someone trying to kill his boyfriend.”

“You can’t tell Krav either. It’s fine Lulu. It was a long time ago. I’m over it.”

“Bullshit,” she snorted. “Otherwise you would be back to making food for everyone. What do you think’ll happen?”

“I don’t want to hurt my family,” Taako said quietly. “What if I make a mistake again? What if it _is_ my fault this time? What if I kill one of them? I just found everyone again. I can’t lose them.”

“Then what if I test it?” Lup asked. “It’s not like I can die, if anything happens, then I’ll just be a lich until we can grow a new body in one of those weird tanks.”

“Maybe,” Taako said noncommittally.

“Come on ‘ko,” Lup said, jumping to her feet and dragging Taako up with her. “Let’s finish those muffins and make our family some breakfast.”

“But-”

“No buts,” Lup interrupted. “I’ll keep an eye on you and make sure nothing goes wrong.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

A few hours later, the twins had made a veritable feast for the crew. Lup had made most of the food but Taako had helped out with small things, though he studiously refused to use magic near it. Not even a simple Mage Hand to grab things that were out of reach. Leaving everything under a heat spell cast by Lup, the pair retreated to the couch in the next room, collapsing on the couch and falling asleep cuddling.

That was where their family found them the next morning.

“Morning you two,” Lucretia said, shaking the twins from their slumber. “You two responsible for the alarming amount of food in the kitchen?”

“Yeah,” Lup said, sitting up with a yawn. “Figured we might as well do something since we couldn’t sleep last night.”

“It smells delicious Miss Lup!” Angus exclaimed excitedly.

“Koko helped too buddy,” she told him.

“Really, sir?” Angus said, his adoration for the elven wizard clear in his tone. “Then I’m sure it’s going to be great!”

“Don’t get your hopes up, Agnes,” Taako said, ruffling the boy’s hair as he passed him. “I haven’t cooked properly in ages.”

“It’s going to be delicious,” Angus insisted stubbornly. “I know it will.”

Taako hid a smile as he strode into the kitchen. “Whatever you say, Pumpkin.”

It didn’t take long before the entire crew was gathered in the kitchen for breakfast.

“Who made these?” Magnus asked, snatching a muffin from the plate.

“We did,” Lup replied, drawing a reluctant Taako into her side with a smile.

“Can we eat them?” Magnus asked, drooling at the smell of freshly baked goods.

“Go for it my dude,” Taako replied with false bravado. “Just don’t blame me when you get sick.”

Lup elbowed her brother in the side. “You saying my cooking will make people sick Koko?”

“Course not babe,” he said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Don’t know about mine though. Ch’boy’s gotten rusty.”

“I trust you,” Magnus replied easily. “Anyways, Merle can heal me if anything goes wrong.”

“You want to put your life in Merle’s hands?” Taako asked, raising an eyebrow and indicating the dwarf who had stumbled into the kitchen after walking into the door frame three times.

“It’ll be fine. Your food’s always delicious,” Magnus said, grabbing a muffin.

“S’not the problem,” Taako muttered. He watched nervously as his family ate the muffins, searching for any sign of discomfort.

“They’ll be fine,” Lup whispered to her brother, tugging him further into her arms and forcing his head to her shoulder. “They trust you.”

“They shouldn’t,” he muttered.

“Do you really think you would hurt them ‘ko? They’re your family.”

“Not on purpose. But then again, I didn’t mean to kill forty people but that still happened.”

“And it wasn’t your fault. You told me that June had shown you that Sazed poisoned them. It had nothing to do with you.”

“But if I had tasted the food-” He protested.

“Then I wouldn’t have my brother anymore,” Lup interrupted sternly. “And nothing would be able to stop me from getting you back. Not even that hot Reaper boyfriend of yours.”

“Leave Krav alone,” Taako mumbled into her neck.

“Then don’t die, and make me drag your ass back to the world of the living,” she replied.

Taako didn’t reply but snuggled into his sister’s embrace.

“Love you, Lulu,” he muttered quietly.

“Love you too, ‘ko,” she replied.

**Author's Note:**

> My friends and I decided to make a challenge of writing a fic using a prompt from this [random generator.](http://generatorland.com/usergenerator.aspx?id=9094)
> 
> The series is very probably a mess but go check out the other fics!!!


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